|
|
Steve AdamsLink to home page : Steve Adams  Biography: Steve Adams ( b. 1952 ) composes and plays sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophones as well as flute, alto flute, bass flute, clarinet, bass clarinet and synthesizer. Steve is a graduate of the School of Contemporary Music in Boston, and has studied composition with Thomas Oboe Lee, Christopher Yavelov and Alan Crossman; saxophone and flute with David Birkin; and Indian music with Peter Row and Steve Gorn. He has taught at North Shore Community College, Governor Dummer Academy and the School of Contemporary Music.Currently based in San Francisco, Steve is a member of the Rova Saxophone Quartet, an innovative ensemble that has been called "one of the most daring ensembles of any instrumentation to emerge in recent years" by Downbeat magazine. Rova has toured widely in the U.S., Canada, and Eastern and Western Europe and has recordings on the Black Saint, Hat Art, Sound Aspects and Metalanguage labels. He is a former member of Your Neighborhood Saxophone Quartet, an eclectic jazz group that has toured Europe and recorded on the Coppens CCD label, Composers in Red Sneakers, a classically-oriented composer's consortium, and Birdsongs of the Mesozoic, a "punk classical" rock group with recordings on Rykodisc, Ace of Hearts and Cuneiform Records. Steve is on more than 35 recordings, including seven with the Rova Saxophone Quartet, four with Your Neighborhood Saxophone Quartet and three as a co-leader for the 9Winds label. He has performed with Anthony Braxton, Sam Rivers, Dave Holland, John Zorn, Cecil Taylor, Donald Byrd, Jaki Byard and Ted Nugent and with many other jazz, rock, classical, dance and theater groups. Steve received a Reader's Digest/Meet the Composer grant in 1993 and was a finalist in the 1983 Massachusetts "You Gotta Have Arts" grant competition. He has written many compositions and arrangements in various genres,including fifteen currently on record. His works in the classical vein include Owed t'Don for marimba and violin, commissioned by Marimolin and recorded for the GM label, Watching for a Story for alto saxophone and tape, Squinch for brass quintet, commissioned by the Empire Brass Quintet, and K/24 (for Vasily Kandinsky) for saxophone quartet. He has also written music for dance pieces and animated films. Steve wrote the music for the Berkeley Shakespeare Festival's 1990 production of Twelfth Night, for the California Shakespeare Festival's 1991 production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, their 1993 production of Hamlet, their 1994 production of The Taming of the Shrew, and their 1995 production of Much Ado About Nothing. Upcoming Events: Berkeley Arts 2133 University AvenueBerkeley Wednesday, May 22 2013 8:00 PM
CDs on which Steve Adams appears: |
